Cost - It’s totally up to you. If you decide to just play the game then it’s free!

If you are looking for a fun little indoor activity on a chilly day, try a book hunt. You go to a local book store with someone, split up, and with a time limit you try to pick out a book that the other person might like. Then you meet up and reveal your choices to one another. We gave it a shot, and although we didn’t stick to our own rules we really enjoyed it.

SHE SAID:

One of my favorite places to shop for gifts is at a bookstore. So when Brad suggested we go on a book hunt for each other I was in.

Chapters is a lot of real estate to cover in a short time frame so I chose the top three sections I thought I might find something he enjoyed. I also tried to think of any recent conversations we had about his latest interests, curiosities, etc. I tend to be a tad indecisive, and coupling that with a time crunch spells disaster, so it’s no wonder I ended up coming back to the meeting spot with more than one book. Three to be exact.

I found the hunt for the books and the big reveal to be very exciting, but no so much the deciding what book to keep. This is why I recommend sticking to only bringing one book back to your partner. Giving yourself more time to hunt for books may help with this. Brad gave me 15 minutes, without a watch, in a store with many shopping distractions, to find an awesome gift. I recommend a good half hour, but don’t take so long that you have to put an announcement over the PA for a lost partner.

Brad’s first picks for me were massive novels, which I would have loved were it July and I had endless hours to read at the beach. However, it’s October and I need magazine type texts to flip through at my leisure.

The second attempt was very successful. Option #1 was a massive book of nothing but lists. Option #2 was a tip book on how to buy yourself more time (was that a hint?) and Option #3 (my favorite!) was a quick decorating book for people on the go. In the end, my frugal and practical side won out and I didn’t end up getting a book that Brad had picked out for me (sorry love bug!) but a book I needed for school. If nothing else, Brad has some great ideas for Christmas….

HE SAID:

After almost three and a half years of marriage we finally put all of our knowledge about each other to the test. We went to Chapters, split up, and took 15 minutes to pick out three books that we thought the other might like.

First of all I should say that we bent the rules quite a bit on this one. I think the idea is to each pick out one book, and no matter what ends up getting picked, you have to buy it. We decided not only to pick out more than one book each, but to do two rounds of picks. We also went in with a budget in mind, but that didn’t last long as I am horrible at looking at prices when I shop for Susan.

I went into this feeling quite confident that I could pick out the perfect book on the first try. Then I got knee deep in choices and realized it was going to be harder than I thought. Do I go for a novel, or more information oriented book? While Susan (of course) took the more logical route of picking from what she thought was my top three favorite sections, I went the more frantic, running up and down the aisles in a panic route. In the first round I decided to pick out some novels. I knew that she doesn’t have the time to read one right now, but I figured it would be nice to have one to look forward to reading when some free time shows up. So in the second round I think I found some better choices for her.

I have to say, I was quite surprised by the books she picked out for me. I was expecting more random choices, books that I had never heard of before. Instead she went pretty safe and picked books I had either looked at before, or books by authors that I enjoy. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the books she picked out, I was just surprised.

We decided in the end not to buy any of the books we picked out for each other for two reasons. The first was because we both threw our original budget out the window. The second was that we decided the fun was in the hunt itself plus the reveal, not in the purchasing.

I had so much fun with this one and I can’t wait to try it again. It’s kind of like Christmas with more instant gratification. With a Christmas gift you often have to wait weeks or days, if not months, before you can see the reaction of the person you bought the gift for. With this you get to see the reaction almost immediately, plus you don’t even have to buy anything to have fun. I really got a kick out of watching Susan’s reactions to the books I picked for her and wanted to keep picking more, but we ran out of time.

So what are you waiting for? Go out to a local book store with someone and try this game. It’s a lot of fun, and the cost is totally up to you.

Cost – Free if you own an old system and games, up to $75 if you buy one second hand.

Who can’t remember with fondness sitting in your basement in the 80’s with a white knuckled death grip on your Nintendo controller and eyes peeled to the television screen as you tried to rescue the princess in Super Mario Brothers? Who can remember begging and pleading with your parents to get you the 72 in 1 game for Christmas (72 games in one cartridge!)? Who can also remember their parent’s secret addiction to your NES as they stayed up into the wee hours of the morning playing Tetris? If you can relate to any or all of the above, it’s time to unpack that old system from the attic and blow the dust out of those cartridges one more time.

SHE SAID:

I am not a modern gaming girl. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to be able to sit down and enjoy an hour of Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 gaming glory like Brad, but it always ends in ruin. I can’t get my mind around all of the buttons, multiple perspectives and rumbling remotes. So when Brad suggested we dust off the old NES and SuperNintendo, I was more than game (no pun intended).

We only had one game cartridge for the NES, but luckily it was the 72 in 1, so we had more than enough game options. After several attempts to get the game started, we made it to the menu screen and smiled giddily at all of the options. I was in my glory as we shot down tanks in Battle City, gobbled up ghosts in Pacman, clubbed seals in Ice Climber and ran from vicious cats in Mappy. I loved that the screens only went one way and I only had to worry about going left and right and two other buttons.

Even though Brad was still better than me, I didn’t care because it was nostalgic and fun. I would suggest, though, that you make an agreement beforehand not to leave each other behind in games such as Ice Climber (cough, cough, Brad). I only wish we had kept Duck Hunt. How I would love to aim that orange little gun at the screen and marvel at how the TV knew I had shot the ducks.

I will definitely be pulling out the ole NES again for as long as it will reset. I think it’s a fun way to go back in time and pretend you’re five again for a few hours. It’s great for “remember when” conversation and next time I think I’ll buy some retro treats like Warheads and Ring Pops to complete the experience.

HE SAID:

Retro gaming night has been on our to-do list for a while and my thumbs have been just as anxious as the rest of me to walk down my gaming memory lane. At first I was concerned that the games may not live up to my childhood memories. In some cases that did happen, but overall it brought back those same feelings of fun and excitement I had as a kid.

I love that my experience with my old dusty NES lived up to all the cliches that belong to that system. I popped in the game, hit the power button, and groaned as the screen filled with random colors and characters. I tried hitting the reset button with no luck. So I did what any seasoned NES owner would do when a game won’t load. I blew on it. After a few more attempts it finally worked and we started gaming.

I found that most of the games on my 72-in-1 cartridge only held my attention for a few minutes, just like they did years ago. But there are a few hidden gems that brought back some great memories. Frantically trying to get back on my motorcycle after a big fall in Excite Bike, fighting a rough looking dude in a back alley in Urban Champ, and owning my opponent in Tennis all took me back to my childhood. Of course we left the best for last with Super Mario Bros. That game still holds up after all these years. Remember that invisible box in the first level with the hidden 1-UP, or taking as many warp tunnels as possible to get through the game in record time? Awesome.

Although we didn’t spend as much time playing the Super Nintendo, it wasn’t for a lack of love for the console. Super Mario World is a fantastic game, and NBA Jam helped pass many an afternoon growing up.

The great thing about retro game night is that Susan and I both had fun. Usually when I power up the Xbox 360 she runs for the hills (I have better luck with the PS3 because we use it mostly for movies), but I think we were equally excited to play some old favorites. The games are easy enough to pick up that you can give this a try even if you didn’t both grow up playing these games. So what are you waiting for? Dust off an old gaming console, have some fun for two, and let us know some of your favorite video games growing up.